About

Common Questions

What is Halo: Custom Edition?

Halo Custom Edition is a free add on to Halo Combat Evolved for PC. Custom Edition allows modders to create their own multiplayer and singleplayer experiences with the Halo Editing Kit (HEK) engine. And thanks to community additions such as Open Sauce, players are able to create an even more vast experience that would not be possible otherwise in Halo: Combat Evolved. You can find a ton of Custom Edition maps and projects over at Halomaps (hce.halomaps.org).

How do I get/play Custom Edition?

From there, you got Custom Edition installed and ready to play! Next thing to do is browse here or Halomaps for projects to download and play.

Multiplayer and Singleplayer projects come in a .map format. Simply go to where you installed your game (typically “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo Custom Edition”) and you’ll find a folder called “Maps”. Just drag and drop the file in there! If its a multiplayer map, it’ll pop up in your map list automatically. If it’s singleplayer, you can download the Universal UI that contains most single player maps listed, so you can just open the game and select it from a list once downloaded. Otherwise click here to find out to how manually load Singleplayer maps.

We recommend starting out with SPV3, found here. You can download the game, open sauce (a free add-on to Custom Edition that expands the game’s limitations), the Universal UI and SPV3 all in one package.

What is CE3?

In HaloMaps Update, we show off all of the brand new maps released for Halo: Custom Edition that update.

At CE3 Live, our flagship event, we have members of the Halo: Custom Edition community submit their upcoming projects to us, and we present them to thousands of livestream audiences every summer.

What should I expect from CE3 Live?

CE3 Live events are online shows that are held every summer, and they are split up into three parts: the pre-show, the livestream event, and the after-show game.

The pre-show is the period of time up to about one month before the actual event. Here, previews of the event and podcasts made by the CE3 crew are released.

Next comes the massive livestream -this is the main event and what most people associate with the words “CE3”. Come watch our annual live broadcast, and join the official chat to talk about the projects with the rest of the CE community.

Right after the show, join us in our CE3 After-Show Server and play on the maps that were showcased on the livestreamed show! Be sure to go back and download the brand new maps released at CE3, too!

How does CE3 work?

Modders will submit either a map or video to us, and then from there we will create a livestream based around Dratt and Bullet talking about these maps onstage. Sometimes the creators will even come onstage to talk about their projects. You can watch previous years of CE3 Live on our YouTube channel.

How do I submit to CE3?

You can submit your projects to us here. As of now, submissions are closed.

What I just saw on CE3 looked cool, and I want to play with it myself!

If you don’t have Halo Custom Edition already, go ahead and get it here (along with OpenSauce, the Universal UI and HEK). Once you’re done, download the mods that you want from HaloMaps or, if it’s a multiplayer map, let OpenSauce download it for you. Then just select the entry (if it’s a singleplayer or Firefight map) or multiplayer server that’s running what you want to try, and enjoy your game!

However, you must have a valid Halo PC key for Custom Edition. If you don’t have Halo PC, you can get it here.

Does CE3 profit from any of its productions?

No. Any advertisement you may see on our productions are through our third-party hosting sites (such as Youtube) and we do not make any profit from these advertisements.

History of CE3

Well, so you decided you want to know more about us after all… then get ready for us to go all textbook/Wikipedia on you. You have been warned.

Created on June 10th 2010, the Custom Edition Entertainment Exposition (CE3) started as just an annual online event to present and advertise Halo: Custom Edition content to the world. The event is streamed live every July to allow Custom Edition map- and tagmakers to show off their new content to the public. Having hosted several high-profile projects like Halo/Star Wars, the Open Sauce project, Takedown, Firefight Descent and the Project: Lumoria campaigns, this event is one of the most popular places to advertise Halo custom content.

A rare exception in the video game world, Halo CE’s world of custom content is still going strong despite the release of its functional successors like Halo Reach’s Forge mode. Despite several dramatic issues encountered over the years, CE3 has continued to provide the best of custom gaming.

See what we’re made of, and enjoy our community’s unique, unchained and epic talents at our best!

2010: Making History in One Week

CE3 was born in June 2010 in the hands of MatthewDratt and Slow Bullet. Dreaming of a small-scale, Halo version of the famous Electronic Entertainment Exposition (the E3) gaming expo, the very first CE3 was hastily thrown together; the only guideline was to submit a video to either of the two hosts by July 16th. When the event was first suggested on Halomaps, the most active Halo: CE forum at the time, Dratt and Bullet were flooded with criticism. Many active users blasted the event as hastily organized and too rushed, as creating custom content and a suitable trailer in the span of a month seemed impossible. Criticism continued as CE3’s inactive YouTube channel uploaded a trailer just days before the main event.

The platform that started it all.

However, the tides turned to the event’s favor: Rambo, a well-respected community member at the time, donated his Blood Creek Campus map’s basement stage for CE3. What used to be a horribly constructed event gained a major supporter and a legitimate stage location. Fortunately, the community followed, apparently changing their tune towards the event. In the remaining few days before the show’s airing, the community flooded in videos and trailers for the event. Unorganized and rushed, Dratt put together the submissions and created a historic 1-hour live stream.

CE3 2010 aired on July 23 at 8:00PM, Eastern Daylight Time with 19 projects presented over 55 minutes. Unfortunately, the stream suffered from low quality and audio-lag, forcing Dratt to restart the streaming after five minutes. To make matters worse, the whole streaming was nearly delayed because of a possible power outage from where Dratt streamed the show. The unexpected problems and unorganized format of the show was received negatively by the live audience, claiming that it was boring.

“Everyone loves to see things. That’s what it is.”

-Slow Bullet

This negativity did not last long, however. Several hours after the disastrous live stream, CE3 uploaded segments of the show, which featured trailers of maps and tags (pieces of custom content) and interviews of developers. Each of these content were uploaded in separate, podcast-like videos for easier viewing. This proved to redeem CE3’s public reception, as the YouTube segments was much more well-received and enjoyed by the Custom Edition community.

2011: Center-Stage Expansion

Learning from its past logistic and technical problems and facing its new attention by the Halo: CE community, production and test-streams for CE3 2011 started as early as December 2010. CE3 became more formal for 2011 by following stricter rules and using deadline for submissions. CE3 2011, unlike its predecessor, was announced earlier so that content creators could have more time to develop their submissions. CE3 2011 also was the first time that professional voice actor Bryan Cox was welcomed as the official announcer for previews and the live stream. Also, Karasuro took Dratt’s place to stream the show. With more time to make the live stream out of the submissions, the entire CE3 2011 live stream was completed in 4 days.

CE3 stepped up its production value in 2011. Somewhat.

CE3 2011 aired on July 8th, 2011 at 8pm EDT with 13 submissions presented over 45 minutes. Unlike its previous version, the 2011 version was received universally well among the Halo: CE community. The live streaming experienced a slight lag in the beginning of the show, which was resolved within the first minute without restarting. Many viewers claimed that the 2011 streaming was much more enjoyable than its predecessor, as seen in polls set up on its website. For the first time, CE3 also gave out prizes (1600 Microsoft points for Xbox Live, and 3 months’ worth of Xbox Live Gold membership), which grew to be a popular portion of the program. Overall, the event proved to be a major success and a huge improvement from its 2010 counterpart.

“We got Bryan Cox. Our show would still be [bad] without him.”

-MatthewDratt

Most interviews, all developer-made presentations, and (three months later) the live stream were uploaded onto YouTube.

2012: Rising from the Ashes

Three months after CE3, on September 21, 2011, Dratt announced his resignation from the CE3 crew. The CE3 co-founder announced that he wanted to focus on his other projects Takedown and Lumoria, and focus more on his personal life. To replace him and Karasuro, E3pO entered the team as the lead host, live streamer and modeler of a new stage to replace the Blood Creek Campus. M16 Assault, a well-known weapons animator in the Halo community, volunteered to animate the cyborgs that represent each of the show’s presenters.

CE3 2012 seemed to sail smoothly towards better content at first…

The new lineup seemed to progress smoothly until the June of 2012, when logistical problems plagued CE3, yet again. Members lost contact with E3pO, leaving the CE3 team temporarily incapacitated. Left without an editor just one month before the annual presentation, Dratt was hastily brought back to the project to edit the show. M16 Assault and ODST_Nick (an experienced map maker) also replaced E3PO’s former roles -M16 as the live streamer, and Nick as the stage modeler. To make matters worse, many users noted that the current live stream time for CE3 was extremely inconvenient for some viewers -the current air time at Friday evenings in Eastern USA time is after midnight in Europe, the home of a significant portion of the Halo community. To deal with this, the CE3 crew decided to change the live stream time to Sunday at 4PM EDT (or a more manageable 8PM UTC). To pour salt in CE3’s gaping wound, Dratt publicly stated his dislike in working with Slow Bullet, and even threatened to leave CE3’s development team. An already shaky situation led to CE3’s production being endangered yet again -yet, the fateful day of the live stream approached.

CE3 2012 aired on July 29th at 4pm EDT (8pm UTC), unfortunately competing with prime-time events in the 2012 London Olympics. Despite a slight decrease in viewership due to the global event, the show was received incredibly well, becoming the second-most watched CE3 at the time with 227 live views. Comparing to its past events, CE3 2012 fared much better technically, as it encountered no lagging or streaming failures. The overall presentation enjoyed nearly universal praise, raising the hurdle for future events.

Some artists just can’t let go of their creations.

All trailers, videos and interviews from the 2012 presentation were released immediately after the live stream, with the stream itself being archived only hours later. Evident from Dratt and Bullet’s private reconciliation and the acclaim of projects released shortly after the event, the 2012 event was a major success.

2013: New Mandates, New Precedents

In hopes of riding the waves of 2012’s success and evolving from a casual event to a staple of the Halo community, CE3 2013 ventured forward with a vast amount of new practices. For the first step of that evoluton, Kozakuu entered the crew as a dedicated art designer to direct visual and aesthetic designs for the event. Renegade343 also entered the team to create an original, theater-style stage and provide logistics support (and eventually co-host). MatthewDratt, Slow Bullet, M16 Assault, and Bryan Cox all returned for another year of CE3.

The 2013 event was officially revealed on December 19, 2012, followed by its inaugural podcast on Christmas Day. The 2013 event saw further efforts to be more accessible and return to its origins of providing quality content. Submissions, which used to be rushed in the final weeks of the first three events, are now accepted from January 4, 2013 (roughly seven months before the actual event’s air date). With a more stable production team and mandate to represent the Halo community at large, CE3 added two new brands of pre-show content: the HaloMaps update and the HMU Sample Server. Both of these features allowed users to watch map reviews and test-play maps released between CE3 events on YouTube. These new features gradually evolved into CE3’s After-Show Server and HMU series.

Because bigger is always better.

Unfortunately, CE3 2013 still had its fair share of backstage issues. Since Renegade imported the stage into Halo from the free modeling program SketchUp (an extremely unusual and untested method), there were literally thousands of technical errors that slowed down production. To help fix the stage model’s errors, Jesse from the Foundry project was brought into CE3 while MatthewDratt experimented with new methods of lighting. Slow Bullet’s personal life also kept him from going online since mid-June, leaving Storm from Storm und Blackbird and Renegade to cover for a HaloMaps Update and several CE3 interviews, respectively.

CE3 2013 aired July 13th at 4pm EDT with a record 90-minute long presentation. Taking eight days long to film and having over 500 live viewers, the 2013 event became both the most-watched event and the most time-consuming CE3 production to date. Thanks in part to advertisement from Halo4Follower and a tweet from Ustream to promote the show, CE3 2013 gained attention for its quality production and content. The post-show server, which featured several maps from the livestream and Showcase section, also immediately filled despite the popup of fatal server errors.

2014: Don’t Change What Isn’t Broken

CE3 2014 aired July 19th at 5pm EDT/9pm UTC. All of the main CE3 crew from 2013 (MatthewDratt, Slow Bullet, Bryan Cox, M16 Assault, Kozakuu, Renegade343) all returned to fill their positions. CE3 2014 was officially announced on February 17th along with its first podcast.

With the same stage from 2013, there has been more time to clean up the stage. A variety of guest sat in the background (unlike 2013’s non-moving white Spartans) and the lighting could be manipulated. Production official started filming on July 8th and wrapped on July 16th (roughly the same amount of time CE3 2013 took to produce). The post-show server was also brought back after the show this year, featuring maps from previous year CE3s, HMUs, and other custom maps. A few maps from CE3 2014 also were in the showcase section.

Keep expanding.

CE3 2014 featured 36 projects over 100 minutes. This was the first time the entire show was on Youtube directly after the show. The show also featured several surprises, such as an interview with Halomaps operator, Dennis. This was the first year that there were two identical servers for the post-show, and they both filled up immediately. Both the show stream and the servers were received with praise. CE3 2014 was the most watched CE3 to date with 700 unique viewers during the livestream.

2015: Next step forwards

CE3 2015 aired July 11, 2015. All of the main CE3 crew from 2014 (MatthewDratt, Slow Bullet, Bryan Cox, M16 Assault, Kozakuu, Renegade343) all returned to fill their positions. CE3 2015 was announced March 1st, 2015, along with a trailer and a podcast.

CE3 2015 featured a brand new stage designed by 2013’s stage designer, Renegade343. CE3 2015 was also the first livestream to take advantage of Twitch and Ustream HD capabilities. Thanks to Restream.io, the stream was broadcasted on both services all at once. Filming production started on June 27th and ended July 8th. CE3 gained 804 viewers between Ustream and Twitch, just topping last years CE3.

2016: The End

On September 9th, 2015, MattDratt made a Halomaps thread announcing CE3 2016 would be the end of CE3; at the same time announced a few changes that would be made to the show for the final year. The entire crew from 2015 (MattDratt, Slow Bullet, Bryan Cox, M16 Assault, Kozakuu, Renegade343) returned. CE3 also made some changes to HMU and it’s website, adding a full searchable archive for all the maps featured on HMU. On March 18th, CE3 2016 was official revealed with the drop of a new trailer. In June, with the stage development halted, Jesse was brought onto remodel and texture the stage, originally concepted and drafted by Renegade343.

Seven incredible years.

CE3 2016 aired August 20th 2016 at 5pm EDT. It reached about 2300 viewers worldwide, making it the most streamed show ever. The months before it and the month of air all broke website records for traffic (June, July, and August). The show is also the longest show ever clocking in at about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

HMU is the regular series on our YouTube channel where the CE3 crew test-plays newly released files for Halo: Custom Edition. Submit Maps/Tags/Ect to HMU (for release): Want to submit maps to us for release? We’ll release a download on our site and show off your map in the next HMU! DO NOT UPLOAD […]